Matt Willis has been a studio researcher at ESPN since 2006, working on "NASCAR Now" and "SportsCenter," among other shows. He graduated from Ithaca College in 2006 with a degree in journalism. While there, he worked on ICTV, on shows such as "Ya Think You Know Sports?" and "Sports Final." He also was a member of the IC Comedy Club and figures about half of the jokes he makes in his column are actually funny.

When we reach SummerSlam, Brock Lesnar's Universal championship reign will have surpassed 500 days, marking the longest world title reign in WWE since Hulk Hogan held the title for more than four years, from 1984 to 1988.

So how did we get to this point? Everyone probably remembers the title matches and big moments, but there have been many twists and turns along the way that helped shape the past three years of Lesnar's career. We're going to take it all the way back to the start of Lesnar's tensions with Goldberg -- the rivalry that started Lesnar's current arc, from his lone major dip in the road all the way to his run of being an indestructible champion for almost a year-and-a-half running.

Oct. 3, 2016

In an appearance on SportsCenter to promote WWE 2K17, Goldberg teased his intention to make a comeback to pro wrestling. His last match was against Lesnar at WrestleMania XX in 2004, a contest best remembered for its outright rejection from the MSG crowd.

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Could Goldberg make an in-ring return?

Goldberg joins SportsCenter to discuss whether he'd consider making a return as an active wrestler and who he'd like to face if he did.

Goldberg tells Lesnar that he's next... and last

Goldberg returns to the WWE to respond to the challenge from Brock Lesnar. He accepts, saying that not only is Lesnar next, but that Lesnar is the last person he'll ever wrestle.

Oct. 24, 2016

Lesnar was back home in Minnesota for Monday Night Raw, and Heyman let the audience know that the Goldberg chants were "really starting to piss Brock Lesnar off." The mixing of the hometown "Suplex City" with those "Goldberg" chants only fueled the flames in this budding rivalry.

Oct. 31, 2016

It was Halloween night at Monday Night Raw in Hartford, Connecticut, and things got physical with Goldberg. Except instead of striking out against Lesnar, Goldberg delivered a Jackhammer to Rusev and a spear to Heyman.

Nov. 14, 2016

In the final Raw before Survivor Series, Heyman pushed all of Goldberg's buttons, promising that Lesnar would beat Goldberg to the point that Goldberg's son "will call Brock Lesnar, Daddy." Goldberg then took out a number of security guards, only for Lesnar to step away after he teased getting back into the ring to confront Goldberg.

Nov. 20, 2016

Lesnar's air of dominance in WWE was shattered for the first time since his second run with the company started, as he was shocked in less than 90 seconds in a loss to Goldberg at Survivor Series in Toronto. It was the first time Lesnar had been pinned since April 2013 and the last time to date Lesnar lost a fall.

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Goldberg beats Lesnar at Survivor Series

Take a look at how Goldberg was able to beat Brock Lesnar at WWE's Survivor Series.

The road to the Royal Rumble continues

Jonathan Coachman looks back at the top moments from Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live including Brock Lesnar laying havoc to mulitiple superstars and former WWE Women's champion Mickie James making her return to the company.

Brock Lesnar sends warning to Goldberg

Jonathan Coachman looks back at the best moments from Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live, including Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman delivering a powerful message to Goldberg, Lesnar's WrestleMania opponent.

In the final Raw before WrestleMania, Heyman referred to Goldberg as "The Man" and a "superhero." But Heyman also promised that his Beast didn't "fear the spear" and that Goldberg would not "survive the F-5." After it was advantage Lesnar two weeks prior, Goldberg quickly took down Lesnar outside the ring and stood tall.

After suffering setback after setback in the early stages of his rivalry with Goldberg, Brock Lesnar finally toppled his foe at WrestleMania 33 to become Universal champion. Courtesy of WWE

April 3, 2017

Lesnar, newly crowned Universal champion, stood in the ring as Heyman gloated and dressed down Reigns (who was booed for nearly 10 consecutive minutes), after Reigns had beaten The Undertaker the previous night. Heyman and Lesnar were interrupted by Strowman, though, who put Lesnar on notice.

One week after Samoa Joe won a Fatal 5-way to become No. 1 contender to the Universal championship, and put Heyman to sleep with the Coquina Clutch the following night on Raw, Joe headbutted Lesnar in the latter's return to Raw. It took nearly the entire Raw roster to separate the two.

June 26, 2017

After Heyman introduced Lesnar, Samoa Joe attacked Lesnar from behind. Lesnar fought off the Coquina Clutch by driving Joe into the LED screens, but Joe eventually locked it in. Lesnar turned bright red before other wrestlers came out to help break the hold.

July 3, 2017

The final Raw before the Great Balls of Fire pay-per-view featured a split screen interview with Samoa Joe and Lesnar -- until Joe left his half of the box to try to find Lesnar. Security held Joe back once he finally found Lesnar in the arena.

Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar had a predictably hyper-physical match that was among Lesnar's stronger title defenses to this point in his Universal championship reign. Courtesy of WWE

July 9, 2017

In his first match in the nearly five months since he captured the Universal title, Lesnar defeated Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire. Lesnar went on to pick up three more wins versus Joe at live events going into SummerSlam.

In an exciting and chaotic 20-plus minute SummerSlam match, Lesnar retained his title. Strowman put Lesnar through two tables (and dumped a third on top of him), which forced Lesnar to be taken to the back. But Lesnar battled back and reversed a spear attempt into an F-5 on Reigns for the win.

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Strowman dumps table onto Lesnar

During the Fatal 4-Way Universal Championship match, Braun Strowman lifts up the announce table and flips it onto Brock Lesnar.

Aug. 21, 2017

Lesnar appeared on Monday Night Raw, and Heyman recapped his triumphant victory. He was interrupted by Strowman, who attacked Lesnar and hit him with consecutive running powerslams; Strowman than posed with the Universal Championship and asserted his dominance.

Aug. 28, 2017

Lesnar's message to Strowman in his surprise Raw appearance was brief, but impactful. After Heyman built Strowman up, Lesnar summed up his feelings with a single sentence. "What he's trying to say is, Suplex City, b----."

Sept. 11, 2017

Heyman admitted that the odds were against Lesnar in his match against Strowman. But with a UFC-style "Fighter, are you ready?" Heyman lured Strowman out for a showdown with Lesnar. Lesnar eventually caught Strowman with a German suplex, but Strowman rolled through, got up and left Lesnar laying.

Brock Lesnar fended off a one-on-one title challenge from Braun Strowman at No Mercy 2017, but that wouldn't be the last he heard from Strowman during his Universal championship reign. Courtesy of WWE

Sept. 24, 2017

Lesnar successfully defended his Universal championship against Strowman at No Mercy. While some anticipated a passing of the torch to the red-hot Strowman, the challenger was done in by a single F-5, despite Lesnar surviving a pair of running powerslams.

At the Raw-versus-SmackDown-themed Survivor Series, Lesnar took on WWE champion AJ Styles. As with many of Styles' matches, he got the best out of Lesnar -- some would say one of Lesnar's best matches ever -- and made Lesnar look every bit the dominant champion. After Styles got his licks in, Lesnar was ultimately the victor, once again requiring just a single F-5.

AJ Styles got some big shots in on Brock Lesnar in what was likely one of Lesnar's best matches of his career, though Styles ultimately came up short in the end. Courtesy of WWE

Dec. 18, 2017

A triple threat match for the Universal title was set up for the Royal Rumble, with Strowman joined by Kane as the challengers. General manager Kurt Angle left the ring before Lesnar got the better of his two opponents, although Kane eventually sat up despite taking an F-5.

Jan. 1, 2018

Heyman and Lesnar appeared on the New Year's Day Raw, and Heyman decried Lesnar's multi-opponent matches. Kane came out and hit a chokeslam on Lesnar. Lesnar quickly sat up, and the two had to be separated by the Raw roster.

Jan. 8, 2018

Lesnar and Kane met again on Monday Night Raw, but this time it was Strowman putting on the show. He took down both of his Rumble opponents backstage, then pulled part of the set down onto both of them using a grappling hook.

Jan. 22, 2018

In the final show before the Royal Rumble -- Raw's 25th anniversary show in Brooklyn and Manhattan -- it was once again Strowman standing tall -- planting Kane with an F-5 and driving Lesnar through the announce table with a powerslam.

Brock Lesnar outlasted Braun Strowman and Kane to retain his Universal championship at the 2018 Royal Rumble pay-per-view. Dave Moser for ESPN

Jan. 28, 2018

Strowman's third shot at Lesnar and the Universal championship was unsuccessful at the Royal Rumble, though Kane would ultimately take the pinfall during a triple threat match in which weapons came into play in a major way.

Two weeks after Reigns called out Lesnar for a no-show, and one week after Heyman promised Lesnar would be at Raw the following week, Lesnar again failed to show. This time, Reigns namedropped Vince McMahon, got physical with Angle and called Lesnar "Vince's Boy," leading to a temporary suspension.

Brock Lesnar attacked a handcuffed Roman Reigns in their first physical confrontation since the announcement of their WrestleMania 34 match. Courtesy WWE

In a final face-to-face before WrestleMania, the roster stood between Lesnar and Reigns, trying to prevent a brawl. Reigns eventually convinced them all to stand aside instead of trying to protect a "part-timer" and got the better of Lesnar.

In his first televised match in 70 days (although he had live event matches with Kane, The Miz and a pair of triple threat Royal Rumble rematches), Lesnar scored a somewhat shocking victory over Reigns in the main event at WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans. It was shocking in that the Lesnar-to-UFC rumors were back in full force, as Heyman once again threatened that he and Lesnar would leave if he lost the title. It also appeared to be the moment for Reigns' official coronation and redemption, three years after his first shot at Lesnar and a world title at WrestleMania 31 ended with Seth Rollins cashing in his Money in the Bank contract.

In Lesnar's most recent match to date, he defeated Reigns again in controversial fashion at the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia. The match ended with Reigns spearing Lesnar through a steel cage onto the floor; while Lesnar came down first, it was on top of the cage, while Reigns rolled off and had his feet hit the floor first. That controversy has fueled Reigns' case for another shot in the four months that followed.

Despite being speared through the cage, Brock Lesnar retained the Universal championship at the Greatest Royal Rumble. Courtesy of WWE

June 25, 2018

One week after promising to select Lesnar's next opponent via a multi-man match, Kurt Angle backed off those comments and said that match won't happen after negotiations hit a "snag," and that the next title defense was up in the air.

July 7, 2018

In an moment that felt more custom-fit for the WWE than the UFC, Lesnar entered the cage after the UFC 226 main event and challenged new UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier to a fight. The next day, USADA confirmed that Lesnar had re-entered their drug-testing pool following his failed test the previous year.

July 15, 2018

Lesnar didn't wrestle at Extreme Rules, but Angle issued an ultimatum to Lesnar at that event: Show up at the following night's Monday Night Raw and accept a match or be stripped of the title.

July 16, 2018

Angle opened Monday Night Raw by saying he was going to strip Lesnar of the title, but he eventually was interrupted by Heyman, telling him that Lesnar wanted to represent WWE the same way Angle did -- as a legit, two-sport athlete. The result was Angle proclaiming that Lesnar would defend the title at SummerSlam against one of six challengers.

After refusing to come out to the ring for much of the night, Lesnar finally came down to close out Monday Night Raw and ostensibly save Paul Heyman's job. He attacked Kurt Angle, who had called him the worst Universal champion in history (of the four to hold the title), and then he all but choked Heyman out in the ring as he held his face tightly.

In the first sign of a strain between the longtime partnership of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman, an episode filled with conflict ended with Lesnar manhandling Heyman in the ring. Courtesy WWE

Aug. 6, 2018

For the first time in years, Heyman alluded to a potential break from Lesnar in a tearful promo that continued the build for Lesnar-Reigns IV.

Aug. 19, 2018

In what could be a culmination of their years of battles, Lesnar will take on Reigns -- his third straight one-on-one meeting with Reigns, in his only matches over the past four months in the main event of SummerSlam.